Sevilla Spain

Who better than Rick Steves to guide you around the most beautiful places in the world? This issue, we concentrate on Sevilla, in particular, which is the capital of Spain’s southern Andalucía region. It’s a wonderful-to-be-alive kind of town, where the color of flamenco dresses and melodies from guitars permeate. Flamboyant Sevilla throbs with flamenco music, sizzles in the summer heat, and pulses with the passion of Don Juan and Carmen. It’s a place where bullfighting is still politically correct and little girls still dream of growing up to become flamenco dancers. Spain’s fourth-largest city is Andalucía’s leading destination, buzzing with festivals, color, guitars, castanets, and street life, and enveloped in the fragrances of orange trees, jacaranda, and myrtle. Sevilla also has its share of impressive sights — but the real magic is the city itself, with its tangled former Jewish Quarter, riveting flamenco shows, thriving bars, and teeming evening paseo.

Sevilla Highlights

Flamenco: Flamboyant, riveting music-and-dance performances, offered at clubs throughout town.Cathedral and Giralda Bell Tower: The world’s largest Gothic church, with Columbus’ tomb, treasury, and climbable tower. Royal Alcázar Palace built by the Moors in the 10th century, revamped in the 14th century, and still serving as royal digs. Hospital de la Caridad Former charity hospital (funded by the likely inspiration for Don Juan) with gorgeously decorated chapel. Church of the Savior: Sevilla’s second-biggest church, bristling with Baroque altarpieces. Basílica de la Macarena: Church and museum with the much-venerated Weeping Virgin statue and two significant floats from Sevilla’s Holy Week celebrations. Triana: Energetic, colorful neighborhood on the west bank of the river. Bullfight Museum: Spain’s largest bullring, considered the mecca of bullfighting; also houses an impressive museum. Evening Paseo Locals strolling in the cool of the evening, mainly along Avenida de la Constitución, Barrio Santa Cruz, the Calle Sierpes and Tetuán shopping pedestrian zone, and the Guadalquivir River. Museo Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija: A fascinating 18th-century aristocratic mansion.Flamenco Dance Museum: High-tech museum explaining the history and art of Sevilla’s favorite dance. Museo de Bellas Artes: Andalucía’s top paintings, including works by Spanish masters Murillo and Zurbarán.

Build your own itinerary to match your interests. Trendsetters linger in Barcelona, and art lovers are drawn to Madrid. If you like flamenco, Sevilla will shake your castanets. Historians travel back in time to Granada’s sprawling Alhambra or to Toledo, with its concentrated mix of art and history within small-town walls. Pilgrims pay homage at Santiago de Compostela and Montserrat, while sun worshippers bask at coastal Nerja and San Sebastián (a city fun for foodies, too). If you’re fond of quiet hill towns, get a good dose in Andalucía. For an exotic excursion, it’s Tangier. Photographers want to go everywhere.

If you’re a fan of Salvador Dalí’s art — or want to make a pilgrimage to the holy site of Montserrat — allot an extra day in Barcelona for side-trips. If you want more Moorish sights, stay another day in Sevilla to make a quick trip to Córdoba (on the AVE high-speed train). To allow time to explore Gibraltar, add an extra day between Tarifa (or Ronda) and Nerja. If Tangier isn’t on your bucket list, skip Tarifa and go to Ronda instead.

This itinerary outlined above is designed for public transportation but can be done all or partly by car. The best areas to rent a car are for Andalucía’s hill towns (Arcos, Ronda, and more, in southern Spain), Camino de Santiago (east–west route in northern Spain), and Cantabria (chunk of north-central coast with beaches, mountains, and prehistoric cave replica), where sparse public transportation limits the efficiency of your sightseeing. If doing the Camino by car, reverse the itinerary and start in San Sebastián.

Rick Steves’ recommended route assumes you’ll fly into Barcelona and out of San Sebastián. To return to Barcelona or Madrid from San Sebastián will entail roughly a six-hour train ride or a one-hour flight.

If you have less time, you could end this trip in Granada or Salamanca and fly out from Madrid. (With the exception of the Basque Country, the north is less rewarding per mile and day.)

Another short itinerary could start in San Sebastián, continue to Barcelona, Madrid, Granada (could add the beach village of Nerja here), and Ronda, and end in Sevilla.

Acknowledgments: Ricksteves.com/europe/spain